


Chapter One: Who Can It Be Now?

by archibaldcurothers



Series: Take the Long Way Home [1]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/M, Fish out of Water, Gen, Memory Loss, Reader Insert, Slow Burn, Time Travel, kinda tsundere
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 18:11:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20101477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/archibaldcurothers/pseuds/archibaldcurothers
Summary: You wake up in confusion. You don't recognize your surroundings, the people (and creatures) around you, and you can't even tell what they're saying! Who are these strangers and how can you get home?





	Chapter One: Who Can It Be Now?

It was a warm, languid evening in the countryside; quiet, save for the playful giggling and water splashing of a young girl in a shallow stream, and the exasperated scolding of her companion.

"Rin, stop at once! I do not care to sleep in wet garments, to do so is to invite ill health!"

"Oh Master Jaken, you worry too much!" the precocious young girl chimed as she continued to kick up great splashes of water.

The little green demon scoffed, "You would do well to listen to me for once, Rin! I will not tend to you if you catch sick."

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "I suppose that would be a burden on you...," her voice trailed off and her splashing ceased as she attempted to give great consideration to this. And yet, as she was a girl of no more than eight, she found it quite difficult to sustain such prolonged reflection, and her attention was soon captured by a lightning bug lazily flying past her. She smiled in unbridled joy and carefully clasped her two cupped hands around the creature, securing it, safely. In her delight she called out to Jaken but he was still cross and made quite the point of ignoring her. This did nothing to dampen her enthusiasm, however, and she rushed out of the stream to show her treasure to her other caretaker, the mighty daiyokai, Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru was only a few yards away from the stream, gazing out at the horizon where the sun was slowly disappearing. He heard his ward approaching him and turned his head ever so slightly, enough to acknowledge her presence but not so much as to suggest he was a great deal invested in what she was going to say. It's not that he didn't care, rather the opposite - he was incredibly fond of Rin and in all that she did and said, but Sesshomaru was a proud demon who had to keep appearances, and those appearances demanded he maintain a certain aloofness towards the child.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" she exclaimed as she came to an abrupt halt beside him. She reached her small, cupped hands up to him. "Look," she said in a hushed tone as she slowly opened her hands to let the flickering light of the insect shine forth. Sesshomaru regarded it for a moment, but it's luminescence was immediately overtaken by a great orange flash of light in the forested area that bordered the stream. Rin gasped in wonder, so transfixed by the sight that she failed to notice the firefly crawl out of her open hands and fly away.

The curious orange radiance faded away, allowing the creeping shadows of dusk to resume. Without much thought, Rin took off running, gleefully, towards where the light had come from.

At this, Jaken became panicked and shouted shrilly after her, "Rin! Where do you think you're going? You get back here!" His words had no effect on her. "Oh you terrible, willful child! Come back at once!" 

Again, she ignored his commands and continued running.

Unlike Jaken, Sesshomaru was unperturbed by Rin scurrying off. He watched her scamper into the tree line and then slowly made his way to follow her. There was no telling what that light had been, whether it was malicious or benign, and he was loathe to leave the girl vulnerable if it were to be the former. So long as he followed her, however, she would be safe; he was certain of that.

He had just entered the forest when he heard a shriek from the girl; he immediately quickened his pace and in a moment he was right beside Rin. The girl had fallen backwards from her scare and was sitting on the ground looking ahead. Sesshomaru observed that she didn't seem hurt or particular afraid, but he followed her line of sight and saw a human woman, strewn on the forest floor. Rin didn't look away from the body as she asked, "Lord Sesshomaru, is she...is she dead? Did someone hurt her?"

"No, Rin, she's not dead and there is no one else in the woods but us." At this, Rin perked up, got to her feet, and was about to approach the unconscious woman but Sesshomaru's firm hand on her shoulder stopped her. "Wait here," he said, as he approached the stranger. Rin did as she was told but watched anxiously, wanting to know if the woman was okay.

When Sesshomaru reached the body he looked it over, suspiciously. She seemed to be wearing a hakama, of sorts, but it was so close to her figure that, upon first glance, he had thought her legs were just peculiarly colored. Her top half was clad in a soft, maroon fabric that he could only compare to the top half of a kimono, albeit without any overlay or a way to open it. It seemed as though she was encased and he wondered for a minute how one would even go about wearing such a thing. Her feet were adorned with what appeared to be boots, but were a deep violet, which he had never before seen. He nudged the woman with his foot, and was met with a pained groan escaping her. Rin called out to him, “Lord Sesshomaru, she sounds hurt! You have to help her!”

Sesshomaru looked back at the child and told her, “We cannot go around saving every foul human we come across. Especially one so…unusual.”

At this, Rin’s chin began to quiver as she fought back the wave of grief rushing over her. She had always been a sensitive creature, and the pain of this unknown woman, and the fate she would likely meet, was causing her heart to ache.

Seeing his ward in such distress over the stranger, Sesshomaru turned back to the unconscious woman. He examined her briefly again, and let out a sigh as he knelt down to get a better look. He turned her over so that she was laying on her back; she was even more unusual than she first appeared. Her skin was smooth and supple, as if it had never experienced anything but luxury, unheard of for all but the most elite of humans. He looked down to her hands, they, too, were soft; free of the calluses that hardened so many human hands against the unforgiving nature of existence. He looked to her face, but her hair lay across, obstructing it from view. 

He gently brushed it aside, his claws delicately grazing her skin. This sensation sent a wave through the woman, the primordial part of her mind instinctively recognized the claws as an immediate danger; she gasped as her eyes flew open and she clambered to sit up and distance herself from the one who bore that which could harm her.

Sesshomaru was only mildly startled by this sudden awakening, his eyes widened and his muscles tensed in anticipation of a fight, if you could call a hopeless altercation between a weak human woman and a daiyokai a fight. He observed as the young woman’s chest heaved from her sudden exertion; he could hear her heart thudding away at an incredible pace, the kind he was accustomed to hearing from humans when they realized a demon was amongst them.

He stood back to his full height and gazed down at her. She was afraid, that he was sure of, but she wasn’t only afraid of him. Her eyes darted around her surroundings in bewilderment, he could see her trying to make sense of what she was seeing - and failing. Why the forest would cause such confusion was unclear to him, so he asked her, “What are you doing out here?”

************************

How did you end up here? Who was this guy? You had been out with your friends, but then…

Your memory was hazy and your head hurt. But you couldn’t let that interfere, you needed to figure out where you were; what was happening.

The man had spoken to you but you couldn’t understand him. You stared at him in confusion. This seemed to annoy him. He spoke again; maybe repeating himself? You weren’t sure, but you did know that you still couldn’t make sense of his words. You stared at him, trying to force yourself to decipher what was happening.

At your continued silence, the man glared at you, said a few words, and then turned from you and began walking away. However, as he did so, a young girl darted passed him and right up to you. She stopped but a mere foot away, smiling widely at you and exclaimed cheerily…well, you weren’t sure what. You could not understand her either. You suddenly started to fear you’d had a brain injury. If you couldn’t make sense of the words people were saying, there had to be something wrong, right?

Before that thought could go any further, the man was again in front of you, but this time he stationed himself between you and the girl, his sudden appearance pushed the small one back a few steps to make room for him. You knew instinctively he was protecting her from you, but why? Did he think you were dangerous? Had you done something you don’t remember?

You looked into the man’s eyes and that’s when you realized they were golden. And was that eyeshadow? Not that you were one to judge, to each his own, but then he also had some magenta stripes on his cheeks as well as a crescent moon on his forehead; his hair was almost comically long and silver - a wig? Not to mention his clothes! You’d never seen anything so ornate, so ostentatious. The fur boa wrapped around his right shoulder caused the word “DIVA” to flash like a neon sign in your head.

You gave your head a curt shake and tried to refocus. None of those things mattered. You looked him in the eyes again, cleared your throat, and shakily said, “Sorry, I- I’m not really sure, um, what’s going on?”

At this the man’s severe expression softened, and he tilted his head ever so slightly to one side. “Like a confused puppy,” you thought to yourself. You slowly shifted your position so that you could stand, your movement caused him to station himself even more squarely between you and the girl. You slowly raised your hands in front of you, palms out towards them, to show you meant no harm. The man eyed you cautiously, but then the girl spoke to him, shifting his attention.

You watched at the girl excitedly and animatedly spoke to the man, often gesturing and looking over at you. The man’s face remained neutral as he listened to her, and when she was finished he glanced over at you, as if he was making some sort of calculation.

Abruptly, he seemed to call out to someone and you felt a surge of panic course through you at the thought of more strangers coming to ogle and poke at you. Unfortunately, you still weren’t prepared for the small green…monster that burst through the brush and came to the man’s side. You let out a yelp and stumbled backwards; the girl rushed over to you despite the man calling to her. She took your hand in hers and looked up at you, smiling, and speaking softly. You guessed she was trying to explain something to you, probably what the hell that thing was, but you still couldn’t make sense of anything being said.

She started to turn from you, but held on to your hand and tugged you along behind her, towards the man and the creature. You thought about yanking your hand away and running off, but you had nowhere to go and nobody to run to, so you sheepishly followed after her.


End file.
